IITA in Malawi

The IITA research station in Lilongwe, Malawi is the oldest IITA station in the southern Africa region. It was established in the country in 1987, at the request of the then Southern Africa Centre for Cooperation in Agricultural Research and Training (SACCAR) on behalf of SADC to execute the project known then as East and Southern Africa Root Crops Research Network (ESARRN). ESARRN was responsible for coordinating activities in East and Southern Africa and maintaining an interdisciplinary approach to deal with major constraints to production and productivity of root crops in the region, such as the cassava mealybug disease.

The first notable success achieved through ESARRN was the IITA-led biological control of the cassava mealybug in Malawi. The success of the program brought cassava into the mainstream of food policy debates in Malawi and neighbouring countries such as Zambia.